The Legend of the Concubine in the Harem

Xie Yuzhen only saw Duke Yingguo say one sentence in front, and Marquis Yuyang followed suit. There were also a few other people wearing third-rank official uniforms. Although they did not make their positions clear like the two of them, they also expressed their agreement to investigate the matter thoroughly. Only Prince Chun'an, who served as the clan leader, expressed opposition - even if the matter needed to be investigated, it should not be said so bluntly in front of so many ministers.

The two old guys seemed to be speaking in a very righteous manner, but in the end they lost the face of the Lu family and the royal family!

The two factions in the front started arguing, and the emperor had a sullen face and did not speak.

Seeing that he hadn't noticed her yet, Xie Yuzhen asked the eunuch who had just answered: "I just arrived, and I don't know who is so bold as to slander the Empress?"

The eunuch bowed and said, "Your Majesty, it is Lord Cao, the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites."

"Minister Cao?" Xie Yuzhen frowned and asked, "Who is this?"

The eunuch was sweating from nervousness: "It's the one kneeling in the middle of the two rows of civil and military officials..."

When Xie Yuzhen accompanied the emperor, she had also seen some memorials submitted by the Ministry of Rites. There was indeed a minister named Cao among them, but she had never seen him in person. When she looked over, she could only see half of Minister Cao's body. This man had white skin, black beard, and a thin figure. At first glance, he looked like a teacher in the eyes of ordinary people.

He was gentle and polite, and his frame wasn't too big. Xie Wei really felt that if he kicked him, he would be able to fly up in the court.

After looking at Minister Cao, she turned her gaze back to the Duke of Yingguo and Marquis of Yuyang. The two old guys were not much different in age. The Duke of Yingguo was just an ordinary, slightly plump middle-aged man, while Marquis of Yuyang had better facial features and was dressed more elegantly, but his appearance was good-looking, not necessarily his heart.

How could a person who pushes his only daughter into the palace just to compete with his brother be a good person?

Not to mention that this family owes Shen Nanliu two lives.

Although Xie Yuzhen would not go against the Yuyang Marquis's Mansion for the sake of Shen Nanliu, with whom she was not on good terms, and to seek justice for her, it did not prevent Xie Yuzhen from using this incident to despise Yuyang Marquis and other members of the Shen family.

Although the first one to step forward was neither the Duke of Yingguo nor the Marquis of Yuyang, just by looking at the two of them jumping up and down just to "overthrow the queen", Xie Yuzhen knew that they could not escape the responsibility - since they could not escape the responsibility, then they would die together!

After calming down and suppressing the anger in her heart, Xie Yuzhen raised her hand to tidy up her tangled hair, and then adjusted the hem of her skirt that was stained with dust and grass leaves. She cried out in a shrill voice, "Your Majesty."

She rushed into the hall gracefully and with a panic-stricken look on her face. She was so fast that even Commander He, who had been keeping a close eye on her, was unable to stop her. He just stood there in a daze, thinking to himself that this lady was truly evil.

"His Majesty!"

When the emperor heard the voice, he instinctively stood up. When he turned around, he saw Xie Yuzhen running towards him with disheveled hair and red eyes. He was immediately startled and raised his hand to stop the chattering officials. He turned around and took two steps forward to take Xie Yuzhen into his arms: "What happened?"

"Your Majesty." The third call of "Your Majesty" was mournful and sad, like a cuckoo weeping blood. After calling out this time, Xie Yuzhen pretended to be exhausted and collapsed in the emperor's arms. She looked up at him with a pair of tearful eyes, and slightly opened her red lips, but she couldn't speak immediately because her panting was too heavy and she couldn't calm down for a while.

"This is a place for political discussion. How can you allow a woman to barge in?"

As Xie Yuzhen had expected, when she barged in like this, there would indeed be some old scholars who would point their spearheads at her. She only heard an old male voice saying, "I think what Minister Cao said is not completely unreasonable. The comet rising in the east means that there is an evil spirit in the harem, so God is warning her..."

Although the emperor was wise enough when he was the "emperor", in the eyes of some people, this supreme leader had both good and bad sides. The good side, needless to say, there had not been any major turmoil in the world since he ascended the throne; the bad side... was probably about women.

If he wanted to choose a concubine, there were so many noble ladies and innocent girls lining up for him to choose from. Why did he have to get entangled with a married woman?

It would be fine if they were just entangled, since this woman's husband was a monster anyway, and the emperor's actions could be praised as saving someone from dire straits. But... he asked this second-married woman to enter the palace as a beauty, and after giving birth to a daughter, he was promoted several levels to noble concubine. Even the son she had with her unworthy ex-husband had to be formally recognized, and he was given the title of Marquis of Yongjia. This was a bit too much honor and favor.

There have always been some discussions about Xie Yuzhen in the court and the public, but because she was in the limelight and was favored by the emperor, these voices only popped up occasionally behind people's backs. The other words were kept deep in the hearts of the men and women who disliked her - and they could only keep them deep in their hearts.

The person who spoke was none other than the Minister of Rites Wen. Originally, Minister Wen was quite dissatisfied with the fact that his subordinate, Minister Cao, suddenly came forward with evidence from nowhere and testified that the death of the late emperor was suspected to be caused by Concubine Ning's poisoning and that the Empress assisted in this. But when he saw a woman in palace clothes with disheveled hair suddenly break into the Lizheng Hall, he no longer cared about protecting the Empress and saving the emperor's face according to etiquette.

He immediately took the words of Duke Yingguo and others as the basis and stood up to accuse Xie Yuzhen.

Minister Wen did not know who this "empress" was, or whether it was the Xie whom he disliked the most. But in the eyes of a man like him, it was a great crime for a woman to break into the government hall. Women should not be involved in these power affairs. Even though there had been empress dowagers in history who governed the country better than male emperors, Minister Wen still stubbornly believed that being able to govern a country well was the duty of the empress dowager when the monarch was young. But this did not mean that this behavior should be praised. On the contrary, it should be curbed.

Just because women are in power is fundamentally wrong.

There was no rule in the Sheng Dynasty that the harem could not interfere in politics. Since its establishment, there were quite a few empresses, concubines and princesses who participated in politics. Those of them who read the books of sages always wanted to have more well-trained and obedient concubines from aristocratic families in the emperor's harem. However, they met two emperors in succession who were ruthless when it came to women.

The late emperor indulged in sensual pleasures. He loved well-trained daughters from aristocratic families, and he loved fierce women who grew up in the wild even more. In the early days, he and Empress Dowager Hu were deeply in love, and together they controlled the court and the people. However, in his later years, he suddenly promoted Concubine Yuan, who came from a military family, and Concubine Meng De, who was sent by an aristocratic family, and forced the empress to almost fight a war with him openly.

Although this emperor has been more restrained than his father, he is not the type of person who would allow his subordinates to manipulate his harem. The current emperor is not as ruthless as the previous emperor, but he is more cruel and ruthless. Whenever high-ranking officials are found to have committed crimes, he will plunder them or execute them. Although he appears to have a good temper and a smile on his face, he has never shown mercy when it comes to killing people.

It was not easy to get such a good opportunity with the right time, right place and right people. Naturally, Minister Wen wanted to express his feelings. No matter who this woman who trespassed was, he would take action against her first and curb this unhealthy trend first!